And that is this: the idea that he would be busted for involvement in an altercation outside a nightclub would be neither all that surprising nor disappointing.

A report by the web site Examiner.com set the Internet ablaze Monday morning with supposed news that the Chargers' running back had been arrested after an altercation outside a downtown San Diego night club Sunday night.

The police said that Mathews was not arrested. In fact, they said he wasn't even questioned regarding the incident.

Mathews told the U-T's Michael Gehlken that he was out downtown on Sunday but “I didn’t hit anybody. I wasn’t arrested ... I didn’t see a fight. I didn’t see anything.”

First, this world has a problem with the wide web. Instant reaction is often the worst kind of reaction. Worse even, that reaction is often to bogus information.

But this is not a column on society being poorer for having more info. This is the sports page.

Mathews is the Chargers’ starting running back, a former first-round pick upon whom a good portion of the team’s recent shortcomings and immediate prospects for improvement rests.

He’s a good kid with bad luck and seemingly not a whole bunch of common sense.

Thankfully for the Chargers and Mathews, they aren't dealing with another NFL arresting development.

But let's not get carried away in Mathews' vindication in this particular instance.

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Instead, let's hope that this turns out to be the best thing that never happened to Mathews.

It's fairly common knowledge that Mathews is frequently out at places that serve plentiful alcohol and occasionally are host to unsavory behavior, even at times and dates that show questionable judgment. In fact, my first thought after seeing the Examiner report was “Wait, I thought Mathews party preference was Pacific Beach.”

Some are wondering right now why they haven't heard about this before. The answer is that Mathews’ social habits aren't newsworthy on their own. However, his being out at clubs is relevant now.

A 25-year-old should be allowed to go out -- especially on June 30, more than two weeks after the Chargers’ last official practice and more than three weeks before the next one.

But, dammit, Mathews has failed to achieve more than half of what has been expected of him since the Chargers selected him 12th overall in the NFL Draft.

You have to be careful about everything you do -- especially if you’re underperforming at your job. You can't give your employers (or the public) any reason to question your commitment. In today's NFL, running backs are as expendable as newspaper writers.

Mathews should know nothing good happens after midnight (even though this incident evidently happened closer to 8:30 p.m., you get the drift).